I realize ads on most screens that I have not summoned while navigating the internet with FireFox. .

Question

I think that this may have contaminated my browser when I was seeking a substitute for a PDF program offered by Adobe. I obtained a free program called PDF Creator. This I believe is the culprit, but I don't know for sure. Please, I don't know that it is responsible, but it sure is timely. I must say that I have tried to remove this program but have had no success. Any ideas as to how I can get rid of this rascal or whatever it is that is causing the problem?

Answer 1

Start Firefox in <u>[[Safe Mode|Safe Mode]]</u> to check if one of the extensions (Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Extensions) or if hardware acceleration is causing the problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Firefox/Tools > Add-ons > Firefox uses the about: protocol to access built-in about: pages that you can open via the location bar just like you open web pages.
*http://kb.mozillazine.org/About_protocol_links).
*Do NOT click the Reset button on the Safe Mode start window or otherwise make changes.
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Safe+Mode
*https://support.mozilla.org/kb/Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes
Do a malware check with some malware scanning programs on the Windows computer.<br>
Please scan with all programs because each program detects different malware.
Make sure that you update each program to get the latest version of their databases before doing a scan.
*Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:<br>http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
*SuperAntispyware:<br>http://www.superantispyware.com/
*Microsoft Safety Scanner:<br>http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx
*Windows Defender: Home Page:<br>http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/defender/default.mspx
*Spybot Search & Destroy:<br>http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
*AdwCleaner:<br>http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/adwcleaner/<br>http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/AdwCleaner.shtml
*Kasperky Free Security Scan:<br>http://www.kaspersky.com/security-scan
You can also do a check for a rootkit infection with TDSSKiller.
*Anti-rootkit utility TDSSKiller:<br>http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446
See also:
*"Spyware on Windows": http://kb.mozillazine.org/Popups_not_blocked